Having spent more than three decades immersed in a religious tradition I no longer consider home, pondering Scarlett’s theological education is an exercise in second-guessing myself: Do we need church? Does Scarlett miss out not having formal religious instruction? Are we copping out doing the “we’re spiritual but not religious” thing because Sunday mornings are good for sleeping in? And so on. Nick spent his childhood and teenage years visiting a variety of churches and experiencing a spectrum of religious traditions, so he is more comfortable with a “let things go how they go” approach. Getting twisted up in these existential dilemmas is not his style, but it’s a fairly constant state of being for me. Scarlett seems unfazed by our ambivalence, she just likes what she likes and a book she is particularly drawn to is My First Read And Learn Book Of Prayers by Dr. Mary Manz Simon. I asked her to go get a book this morning when she was being especially fractious and, of the many books on her shelf, she chose the prayer book. Fitting for Sunday, I guess. The book has a kind of quirky charm. It includes the expected prayers for morning, meals and bedtime but it also includes prayers about being sad moving to a new place and feeling displaced by a new baby. We snuggled and she relaxed. We still may have some things to work out, though. There’s a picture of Jesus on the front… and Scarlett calls him Santa.
http://www.marymanzsimon.com/
http://www.amazon.com/First-Learn-Prayers-Little-Shepherd/dp/0439906326
